SCORECARD: One year after inauguration, police affairs’ ministers yet to address fundamental rights abuses, others
On May 29, 2023, Bola Tinubu was sworn in as Nigeria’s new president. He succeeded former President Muhammadu Buhari who spent eight years in power and left behind a track record of shortcomings in the security sector.
However, Tinubu, in his inaugural speech promised to tackle insecurity.
“Security shall be the top priority of our administration because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence,” he said. “To effectively tackle this menace, we shall reform both our security doctrine and its architecture. We shall invest more in our security personnel, and this means more than an increase in number. We shall provide better training, equipment, pay, and firepower.”
Two months after his assumption of office, the president nominated and appointed Ibrahim Geidam as minister of police affairs and Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim as his state counterpart.
How have they performed in the last one year?
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Welfare of police officers
Though the Federal Government on May 1, approved a 25 to 35 per cent increase in the salary structures of police officers, the armed forces, public servants, among others, police officers have been left to suffer in decaying barracks.
For decades, police and military authorities failed to build new barracks or properly renovate existing ones.
While one of the reasons for erecting barracks is to address the housing challenge confronting military and paramilitary institutions, barrack accommodation is akin to living in a slum.
Most buildings in police and military barracks across the country still lack basic amenities such as toilets and even potable water. Officers still go out every morning with rifles to enforce laws and return back to dilapidated homes at night. This development arguably hinders justice as many of them are in a race against time to get money for their upkeep rather than support human rights or respect fair hearings.
Insecurity
Asides the surge of insurgency and terrorism in the North-eastern parts of the country, Nigeria has been plagued with kidnapping and banditry across the country.
Even with the support of local vigilantes and regional security networks, Nigeria is still battling with various forms of insecurity.
The noise of insecurity is so loud in the lips of many Nigerians, as Abuja, the seat of government, is being threatened by non-state actors. Also under siege are communities in Katsina, Zamfara, Taraba and Kaduna states, where bandits are seemingly in control, demanding tributes and levying taxes.
Following the killings and abductions that have characterised the President Tinubu’s administration, the Speakers of the Houses of Assembly across 36 states in the country, on Thursday, backed the ongoing constitution review exercise for the creation of state police.
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“The conference strongly advocates for state policing to check the negative trend of insecurity in our country. To achieve this, the conference appeals to the National Assembly, Presidency and other relevant stakeholders to leverage on the ongoing constitution review exercise,” the speakers, under the aegis of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, said in a communique.
Bribery, corruption, rights violations
Over the years, the Nigerian police force has been a haven for corrupt operatives and violators of human rights, the trend is yet to stop.
There have been repeated cases of harassment by personnel of the Nigeria Police Force. In fact, journalists have been victims of these officers’ high-handedness.
In addition, different reports across the six geo-political regions of the country have exposed how police officers extort and arrest motorists. Innocent Nigerians are also being detained in different police stations across the country.
Will police reform happen under Tinubu’s administration? This is the question on the lips of many Nigerians.
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